A New Hope
by missy52061
Summary: From a prompt from theputz913: Can we have a story about Kate finding out she's pregnant and/or Lily making her way into the world? That first May 4th? Maybe Rick and Kate's plans for Star Wars day before Lily decided that May 4 was gonna be her birthday? I picked the day Lily was born for this story. As always, I don't own Castle.


Early morning May 5, 2017

Kate woke up with a start. For a moment, she forgot where she was, and she panicked a little. Then as her eyes adjusted to the murky darkness, she remembered: she was in the hospital, but for a great reason: she had given birth to their daughter, Lily Johanna Beckett Castle. She turned herself gingerly and could see the bassinet alongside her bed. She smiled as she watched her daughter sleep. She could feel the warmth of her husband sleeping in the bed next to her. She knew she should be sleeping too, but she couldn't. Her thoughts went back to the last few days.

She had started her maternity leave on Monday. She couldn't wait to meet Lily, and she was totally ready to have this pregnancy end. (She loved being pregnant, but she didn't like some of the more uncomfortable parts of it. Who could blame her for that?) She'd read every pregnancy book she could get her hands on and she knew what the nesting instinct was, but somehow she was still surprised when she woke up on Tuesday and decided she should wash as much of the new clothing Lily could possibly be wearing. Rick had gone out to run a few errands while she was still sipping her orange juice, so she was on her own.

She soon had a small pile of clothing washed and dried, and was folding it all. She smiled as she folded the Star Wars onesie she had bought the other day. It had a picture of Darth Vader on it and it said, "My Daddy dresses me!" She thought it was perfect since Rick had decided to stop working with her and would be Lily's stay at home parent. She took one basket upstairs – she figured she'd bring the other up later on – and made her slow and careful way up to the nursery. As she put away the folded clothing, she smiled as she remembered who gave Lily which item. While she and Rick probably had bought the most, Alexis wasn't far behind. She was very excited to be getting a little sister, and almost every time she came to visit these days, she had some new little outfit. She'd volunteered to baby sit any time they wanted to go out, but Kate had a feeling she'd be fighting her grandmother and honorary grandfather for that honor, not to mention "Aunt" Lanie.

She was so caught up in her thoughts, she didn't even realize that Rick had come back from his errands until she had a feeling that someone was watching her. She turned her head and grinned when she saw her ruggedly handsome husband holding the second laundry basket. "Thanks for bringing up that laundry, babe. It's kind of hard for me to carry more than one basket!" She walked – well, more accurately she waddled – over to him. She went up on her tip toes to smack a kiss on his cheek. She went to take it from him, but he refused to give it up.

He escorted her over to the rocking chair in the corner. "Take a rest, honey. Just tell me where you want this stuff, and I'll put it away." She realized she was a bit tired so she just told him where she wanted him to put the laundry. As he followed her instructions to a tee, he said, "Hey, Kate, after I get this stuff away, do you want to watch a movie or two or three?" She laughed and he continued. "With Star Wars Day coming up, let's do a Star Wars marathon. But we have to start with the first, the original, and the best – "Star Wars: A New Hope!" After all these years, she knew – and agreed with – his feelings on the Star Wars movies. While she enjoyed "Return of the Sith", the prequels just weren't as good as the original trilogy.

"Yeah, a "Star Wars" marathon sounds like a great idea, Rick!" she told him. After he finished with the laundry, he helped out of the chair and then down the stairs. He refused to let her do anything other than sit on the couch and if she was truthful, she was glad to just sit. Her back had been bothering her all morning. Soon, he had a vast array of snacks available and loaded the DVD into the player.

As the familiar words scrolled on the screen, Kate tried to get comfortable. But no matter what she did, her back still bothered her. Rick noticed how she couldn't settle, and said, "Hey Kate, what's wrong?" He knew his wife by now – something was up. By this point of the movie, she'd be reading the crawl in a very dramatic voice in between picking out the most buttered popcorn. But she wasn't doing any of that; in fact, she just looked like something had happened.

"Rick, I think I'm in labor – I think I just had a contraction!" He jumped up and helped her get off the couch. "And shut the movie off!" She walked over to their bedroom while Rick called the doctor, and then his mother. Of course, Kate called her dad and they both called Alexis and the rest of their family – Espo, Lanie and the Ryans. Kate had even called Vicky Gates, knowing she wanted to know when the big event happened.

The hours of labor flashed through her mind as she watched her newborn daughter sleep. As she had known, Rick was at her side through all of it, holding her hand, giving her ice chips, rubbing her back and just supporting her in every possible way. Alexis, Martha and her dad had been nearby, waiting to meet Lily. Espo, Lanie and the Ryans waited by their phones. And when she pushed their baby out of her body, the look of pure joy on Rick's face will be in her memory forever. Hearing him laugh and cry as he cut the cord and then hearing Lily's first cries will never leave her memory either. Introducing Lily to the family and seeing the joy on all of their faces made her tear up.

But right now, she felt Rick stir next to her. She turned to smile at him, and he smiled back. Then he got a look on his face, and before she could ask what was wrong he said, "We never got to watch "Star Wars"!" She laughed as he grinned at her. "Well, maybe she and I can watch it together on her birthday. After all, she is our little Star Wars baby. Hey – that can be my tradition with her – watching it together on her birthday!" Somehow, Kate knew that would happen. And she would happily watch her husband and her daughter have that little tradition.

 **A/N: Having never been pregnant, I don't know what giving birth is really like, and I didn't feel I could do it justice. And I really just wanted a feel good, happy story, since I think we all need that right now. I know I do.**

 **And thanks for the great prompt,** **theputz913** **! And I want to thank all of you for all of the wonderful reviews. I've been having a hard time in real life – job hunting is hard; I don't know how much more rejection I can take – but every time I write a story and get the reviews I actually get to smile. So thanks**!


End file.
